Weft-replenishing mechanism for looms for weaving.



J. WHITTAKER, R. BRADSHAW & J. BRIGGS.

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS FOR WEAVING. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7. I912.

1.;16L566. Patented Nov. 23', 1915.

2' SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. WHITTAKER, R. BRADSHAW & J. BRIGGS.

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS FOR WEAVING.

AP PLICATION FILED JUNE 7. I912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C04, WASHINGTON. u. c.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

JOHN WHITTAKER, RIcIIARD BRADSHAW, AND JOSEPH muses, on RIsIrroN, NEAR BLACKBURN, ENGLAND.

WEFT-REPLENISI-IING MECHANISM FOR- LOOIVIS FOR WEAVING.

App1ication filed June '7, 1912.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, JOHN WHITTAKER, RICHARD BRADSHAW, and JOSEPH BRIGGS, subjects of the King of the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and residents of I/Vellington Mill, Rishton, near Blackburn, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to IVeft-Replenishing Mechanism for Looms for Weaving, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improved mechanism for holding the weft of cops in the rectilinear magazines of automatic weft-replenishing looms.

In the following description the terms right-hand and left-hand refer to parts situated to the right and left of an operator standing in front of the loom and not necessarily to the right and left-hand ends of the drawings. Similarly forward and backward mean toward the front and toward the back of the loom. The description refers to a loom in which the cop magazine is fixed at the right-hand side.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a back elevation of the weft-holding mech anism. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same with a portion of the mechanism omitted. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 4: is an end elevation of the portion of the mechanism omitted from Fig. 2.

An extension of the breast-beam 1 carries an upright support 2 which carries two short shafts, 3 at thetop and 1 at the bottom. The back ends of these two shafts carry chain wheels 5 and 6 respectively, around which passes a chain 7. Every alternate pivot pin of the links of this chainis extended as at 8. The lower shaft 4 carries a ratchet wheel 9 with which engages a detent 10 to prevent the shaft turning in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1; A spring pawl 11 which engages with the ratchet wheel 9, is attached to the rod which, as described in application for Letters Patent Serial Number 635624, filed June 27th, 1911, is connected to the weft-stop motion and is moved endwise on failure of a weft, so that whenever a cop is transferred, the pawl 11 .moves to the right and engages with a fresh tooth of the ratchet wheel 9, and, on its return motion turns the ratchet wheel through Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 702,141.

the distance of one tooth. The chain 7 is thus caused to travel around step by step as the cops in the magazine are transferred.

The shaft 4 is extended to the front and carries a drum 12.

A second drum 13 is pivoted on a lever 14 with fulcrum 15 on the extension of the Patented Nov. 23, 1915. v

breast-beam 1. The other end of the lever slipped between the two drums 12 and 13.

The path of the weft is shown by the thick broken line in Fig. 3. As the cop descends in the magazine, so the pins 8, between which its weft is retained, descend, while the weft is always kept taut by being drawn downward between the two drums 12 and 13 by the rotation of drum 12. The pitches of the ratchet wheel 9 and of the pins 8 are so arranged that the pin carrying the weft of the cop nextto betransferred, is approximately on a level with the top of the shuttle.

A sheet-metal guard 17 prevents the weft from catching in the pins on the ascending flight of the chain 7.

It will be seen that in the arrangement described, the weft is nowhere firmly fixed, but is retained in place and kept taut only by a light frictional grip. When the cop is transferred into the shuttle, thefrictional grip is sufficient to hold the weft during the first pick, but if, during the rapid motion of transfer, any undue strain is put upon the weft, this is relieved by the weft slipping slightly between the two drums 12 and 13.

Another device may be added to still further lessen the chance of breakage of the weft, this, as next described, conveniently taking the form of an elastic member introduced into the path of the weft.

Two pulleys 18 and 19 are fixed to the shaft 3 and an idle shaft 20 respectively. Aroundthese two pulleys is passed a band 21 of loosely woven cloth or other elastic mate rial. Thisis so placed, as seen in Fig. 3, that the weft, in its course past the band, is diverted from a straight line. If then the weft is subjected to a sudden pull, it can instantly yield by displacing the band 21 to the left.

The above-described weft-carrying mech anism has the .following advantages :The weft is secured very quickly by a single movement of the hand, without having to wrap it around any pins or other holding devices; it is secured without having to' pass the hand into the narrow space between the loom and the next loom on the right, where there is the danger of being struck by the slay of the said next loom; the weft from each cop is always kept taut, so that the weft from two cops cannot get entangled; the weft is held yieldingly, so that there is no risk of breakage.

Now it has been found that the weft from the cop about to be transferred, sometimes gets entangled with the ends of weft cut off from cops previously transferred, which remain fixed to the weft-holding device. These cut-ofi' ends of weft thread, at one end, are held between the drums 12 and 18 and their other ends collect at the righthand end of the shuttle-box, where they are pushed by the picker. When the slay is farthest back, the ends of weft stretch between these two points, but when it is forward they. lie loosely on the right-hand front portion of the shuttle-box. Now it sometimes happens that, by reason of drafts of air or the rapid motion of the slay, these ends of weft fly upward when the slay is forward, and become entangled with the weft of the cop next to be transferred; in this case the weft of the cop transferred is frequently broken or fails to be threaded in the shuttle.

Another cause sometimes operates to break the weft or prevent threading, namely, if the drums 12 and 13 fail to keep the weft of the cop next to be transferred, properly taut. This may occur if the weft is improperly placed between the drums, or if the large number of weft threads between the drums prevent these gripping the weft 0f the cop properly. In this event the length of weft from the end of the cop to the weft-holder, hangs downward, when it more easily becomes entangled with the cut-off ends of weft and may fall on the front side of the stud 33 on the slay 34 when the cop is transferred, instead of on the back side,.with the result that the shuttle is not threaded.

In order'to avoid this entangling and failure to thread the shuttle, the following device is employed, which is shown in Figs.

1, 3 and 4 but omitted from Fig. 2.

22, 22, are portions of cops held in the magazine, the lowest one being the cop next to be transferred. A vertical rod 23, which is conveniently fixed to the top of the magae zine, passes in front of the tips of the cops,

and the weft from each cop, as it is placed in the magazine, is passed behind this rod and then inserted in the weft-holding device described above. The lower end of the rod 23, which terminates about the level of the cop next to be transferred, lies between and just above two metal strips 24, 24, which are attached to the extension of the breast-beam 1. Between the two strips 24,

24, are a pair of hooks 25, 25, which are of the cop in the magazine, and by the motion of the weft-holding device, into the position indicated by the dot 27 in Fig. 4 and is retained in this position by the rod the metal strips 24, 24 acting to support the weft, and the hooks 25, 25 acting to keep the weft at the upper part of the supporting strips 24, 24. The support thus given to the weft thread, prevents it hanging down.- ward in the event of the drums 12 and 13 failing to draw it taut, and the metal strips 24, 24 and the hooks 25, 25 prevent the cutoff ends of weft from coming in contact and becoming entangled with the weft from the cop.

A pair of hooked arms 28, 28 are fixed to the end of the shaft 29, carrying the arm which transfers the cops, the motion of this shaft being such that the hooked arms 28,

28 are moved, whenever a cop is transferred, from their normal position, shown in full lines in Fig. 4, to their position shown in dotted lines in the same figure. On each of the arms 28, 28 is a pin 30, on which the respective hook 25 rests. The two hooks 25, 25 are pulled downward by a spring (not shown in the drawings) till they rest on the pins 30, 30. The metal strips 24, 24 have their upper surfaces curved to the are of a circlewith the axis of the shaft 29 as its center.

When a cop is transferred, the hook arms 28, 28 move toward their position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and, as soon as their hooked ends come near the position occupied by the weft 27, the pins 30, come under inclined surfaces 31 (Fig. 4) on the underside of the hooks 25, 25, with the result that the spring acting on the hooks 25, 25 pulls them downward below the level of the upper surfaces of the metal strips 24, 24, and therefore out of the way of the backward movement of the weft 27. The further movement of the hooked arms 28, 28 carries the weft toward the shuttle as the cop is carried into the shuttle by the transferrer, keeping the weft always in line with the cop. This action insures the weft from thecop being carried to the back side of the stud 33 into the position which it should occupy in order that the shuttle may be properly threaded. The downward movement of the hooks 25, 2-5. is limited by stops 32, 32.

Having described our invention, we declare that what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent'is 1. In mechanism for holding the 'weft threads of the cops in the rectilinear magazine of weft replenishing mechanism for looms, the combination of a rectilinearly moving weft-separating device to keep the threads separate without holding them,-

driving means for the separating device operating it whenever a cop is transferred, an independent weft-holding device, and means for turning the holding device to keep the threads taut whenever a cop is transferred.

2. In a mechanism of the type described, the combination with a weft holding device of an endless band of cloth stretched between pulleys and driving means for one of the pulleys operating it whenever a cop is transferred, the said band of cloth being crossed by the weft and adapted to yield when the weft is strained.

3. In mechanism for holding the weft threads of cops in the magazine of weft replenishing mechanism for looms, the combination of a weft-separating device to keep the threads separate, driving means for the separating device operating it each time a cop is transferred, a weft-holding device, means for turning the holding device to transferred, and a band of cloth crossed by the weft and adapted to yield when the weft is strained.

5. In a weft replenishing mechanism for looms, for preventing the weft from the cop next to be transferred from becoming entangled with the cut off ends of the weft, a support for the weft, curved to the path of the weft during transfer, a hook to retain the weft at the upper part of said support, and means for lowering the said hook below the support so as to be out of the path of the weft just before the cop is transferred. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN WHITTAKER. RICHARD BRADSHAW. JOSEPH BRIGGS.

Witnesses WILLIAM HULME, HARRY PEARCE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

